Why you can't sell breast pumps on Facebook

Facebook bans any posts with people attempting to sell breast pumps - here's why. Photo / 123rf

You may have seen the posts popping out on your Facebook, especially if you're in "buy, sell and trade" groups or looking in the Facebook marketplace.

Their titles are things like "baby things" or "the thing that cannot be named" or "liquid gold extractor".

Women trying to buy or sell breast pumps see their posts rejected and taken down if they use the words "breast pump" on them — and many of them have now idea why.

People have to come up with creative ways to word their post. Photo / Facebook

With breast pumps costing so much and sometimes not being used for that long, parents are keen to onsell these items once they're done using them so that other families can use them.

Parenting groups on Facebook, in particular, feel like a good place to reach the right audience for this product - except you can't.

In fact, you can't even use Facebook to give away your breast pump for free, unless you get really creative.

Facebook has explained why it doesn't allow those sales: "Breast pumps are defined as medical device by the FDA, (US Food and Drug administration) and therefore they should only be used by a single owner," a spokesperson told the Herald.

"FDA considers breast pumps to be medical devices that should only be used by a single-user (with the exception of multiple user pumps) due to safety/hygiene risks for the baby."